The present disclosure relates to a sheet feeding cartridge storing a sheet onto which an image is formed and the image forming apparatus including this sheet feeding cartridge.
In an image forming apparatus, such as a multifunction peripheral or a printer, a sheet feeding cartridge storing a sheet onto which an image is formed is attachably/detachably provided. In the sheet feeding cartridge, a position in a width direction of the sheet is restricted by a pair of cursors slidably provided so that a center in the width direction of the sheet is coincident with a center in a width direction of the image to be formed.
The pair of cursors are generally formed to correspond to a sheet size with a high frequency of use (for example, A4 size) and thus if a sheet of a larger size (for example, B4 size or more) than this size is stored, there may be a case where restriction of the position in the width direction by the pair of cursors is not carried out at a rear end part of the sheet (at an end part on a downstream side in a conveyance direction). In a case where the restriction of the position at the rear end part of the sheet is not carried out, in the image forming apparatus in which the sheet feeding cartridge is attached along the width direction of the sheet, if an inertial force in the width direction is applied to the sheet at the time of attaching the sheet feeding cartridge storing the sheet of the large size, there is an possibility that skew of the rear end part of the sheet occurs. If such skew of the sheet occurs, there arises a problem that a sheet feeding failure occurs or an image failure that no image is formed at a predetermined position on the sheet occurs.
Accordingly, in order to prevent the skewness of the sheet of the large size, there is a sheet feeding cartridge in which, at an end cursor restricting the position in the conveyance direction of the sheet, a pair of side cursors for rear end part restricting the width direction of the rear end part of the sheet are provided independently of the pair of cursors. Moreover, there is a sheet feeding cartridge in which a rib restricting the position of the rear end part of the sheet of large size is formed.
However, in the sheet feeding cartridge as mentioned above, because the side cursors for rear end part are exclusively provided, there is a problem that the sheet feeding cartridge is enlarged or the mechanism is complicated. In addition, in the sheet feeding cartridge as mentioned above, because the rib for position restriction is merely compatible with a sheet of a specific size, there is a problem that it is impossible to cope with diversification of the sheet sizes.